SALEM, Oregon — Oregon's unemployment rate ticked up slightly to 5.5 percent in June, even as the labor participation rate hit its lowest recorded level.

The seasonally adjusted jobless rate is up from 5.3 percent in May.

The Oregon Employment Department said Tuesday the uptick is not a surprise because Oregon's unemployment rate has consistently gone up during summer months since the Great Recession. The trend is typically driven by an influx of recent graduates, students on summer break and people moving to Oregon.

A year ago, unemployment for June was at 7 percent.

The labor participation rate was at 60.3 percent, its lowest level since comparable figures were first recorded in 1976. State officials say the drop mirrors a national trend as older workers retire.